Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H50 
$250 
Excellent ergonomics and beautiful images. Only drawback: You have to use Sony's proprietary memory cards.
Olympus SP-570 UZ $200 
Loses points for complex menus and just-average image quality, even in the face of its whopping 20X zoom lens.
Nikon Coolpix P80 $400
This 18X shooter feels nice in the hand, but speeds faster than ISO 400 generate plenty of not-so-nice image noise.
Serving up a hefty helping of stainless steel and Leica glass, the TZ50 seals its ultrazoom dominance with integrated WiFi for straight-to-the-web image transfers (from your nearest T-Mobile hot spot). Panasonic gives aperture- and shutter-priority modes the heave-ho to make room for the company's Intelligent Auto function. Luddites and camera snobs may whine about the loss of manual controls but can console themselves with the consistently terrific images.